Monday, January 12, 2015

White Chocolate Blood Orange Mousse Pie (aka "Puce Pie")

Blood oranges are as rare as hen’s teeth
in my supermarket, so when I see them I automatically pounce. I’m never quite
sure what I’ll do with these rare treasures, but I know it will be good and,
generally, striking. The Moro oranges I found have a

more intense flavor and
aroma than the standard navel orange, and their flesh is usually a beautiful
deep red color (though some oranges are only very lightly pigmented; see below).
They are slightly tart, which is why I like to pair them with something sweet,
as in this White Chocolate Blood Orange Mousse Pie. The sweet

white chocolate
balances the acidity of the blood orange juice (which I made even tarter by
adding some lemon juice). The rich and buttery crumb crust is made from Lorna
Doone cookies, though you can use any shortbread cookie you like. It’s a good
alternative to the ubiquitous graham cracker crust. Since the mousse filling
ends up

being a very pale puce color, I decided to garnish the pie with candied
blood orange slices. Just my luck, my last orange ended up looking a lot like
an ordinary old orange-hued orange, without the beautiful coloration
characteristic of blood oranges – just a few dark red streaks here and there.
Hopefully, your pie will be much more vibrant and just as delicious as mine.

White
Chocolate Blood Orange Mousse Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie, serving 8

Shortbread
Crumb Crust:

1 2/3 cups Lorna Doone cookie crumbs (1
whole package)

2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar

6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter,
melted

White
Chocolate Blood Orange Mousse:

¼ cup water

1 ¾ teaspoons powdered gelatin

¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated blood orange
zest

½ cup (121 g) freshly squeezed blood
orange juice

¼ cup (60 g) freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 large egg yolks

3 ounces good quality white chocolate,
chopped

1 1/3 cups (309 g) heavy cream

Candied
Orange Slices:

1 large blood orange

1 ½ cups (354 g) water

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

Make
the crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium
bowl, combine the shortbread crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Pat the mixture
into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake the crust for 8 to
10 minutes, until it is fragrant and just beginning to brown very lightly. Cool
the crust completely on a wire rack.

Make
the mousse:

2. Place the water in a small saucepan
and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Allow to soften for 5 minutes.

3. Add the sugar, orange zest, citrus
juices and yolks and whisk until blended. Place the mixture over medium heat
and cook, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until the mixture
thicken slightly and coats the spatula; do not allow the mixture to boil, or it
will cook the yolks. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to stand for 2
minutes.

4. Add the white chocolate to the hot
juice mixture and let stand for a minute to melt the chocolate. Whisk until
smooth. Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Place
the bowl into another bowl filled one-third of the way with ice water. Let the
mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until completely cool.

5. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer
fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream at high speed until soft peaks
form. Briskly fold one-third of the whipped cream into the juice mixture.
Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream. Scrape the mousse into the cooled
crust, swirling the top decoratively. Refrigerate the pie for at least 3 hours.

Make
the Candied Orange Slices:

6. Slice the orange crosswise into rounds
that are slightly thinner than ¼-inch.

7. Combine the water and sugar in a large
skillet and place over medium-high heat. Bring a boil, stirring occasionally
until the sugar is dissolved. Add the orange slices and simmer over medium heat
until the slices begin to turn translucent, about 30 minutes. Remove from the
heat and let the orange slices cool in the syrup completely. Once cool, store
the slices in their syrup in a small container in the refrigerator.

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Tish Boyle

About Me

Hi! I'm Tish Boyle, and I'm a cookbook author and editor specializing in desserts. I'm currently the co-editor of Dessert Professional magazine, a trade magazine for the baking and pastry industries. I'm the former editor of Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines, and a graduate of Smith College and La Varenne École de Cuisine in Paris. I've worked in lots of positions in the food biz, including hostess at the coffee shop at The Playboy Club (where, among other things, I blew up bunny balloons); cook on a barge traveling the canals of Burgundy and Bordeaux; a caterer, pastry chef, and food stylist for advertising. I was also an associate editor at Good Housekeeping magazine and a freelance recipe developer for several food companies and magazines. I'm the author of Diner Desserts (Chronicle Books, 2000), The Good Cookie (John Wiley & Sons, 2002), The Cake Book (John Wiley & Sons, 2006) and Flavorful: 150 Irresistible Desserts in All-Time Favorite Flavors (HMH, 2015). I live and bake in Palm City, Florida (where it's almost always HOT) with my husband and two charming cats, Teddy and Freddy. Visit my Web site at www.tishboyle.com.